Sterling Point is the show on everyone’s minds this summer, marking yet another Canadian-based production to capture the attention of the world! While there’s plenty to love about the heartfelt teen series — like the costumes and the breathtaking setting — one unexpected highlight is the hair of it all. Whether you’re obsessed with protagonist Annie’s (Ella Rubin) effortless braids or you can’t stop thinking about Oona’s (Bo Bragason) curls, there’s one person to thank: Toronto hair designer Chrystal Lotz. We caught up with the artist to chat about her work on Sterling Point and the secret to preserving curls in windy cottage country.
Sterling Point has gotten extremely popular, and the styling is a big part of it. What is it about the hair and styling on this show that you think has people so obsessed?
I think that there are entire generations who spent their formative years with curly hair during a time when straight, sleek, flat hair was the trend. Now they are seeing curly hair represented in a way that’s natural and imperfect and being beautifully celebrated and I love it!
Which hair look was your favourite from the show?
My favorite look is Annie’s hair at the movie. I think the two little braids at the front are such a departure from her coiffed New York hair and a sign that she’s finally starting to let a little fun into her life.
We have to ask: what’s Annie’s wavy/curly hair routine?
What’s the trick to the lived-in, perfectly messy braids/updos etc that Annie seems to love?
Don’t overthink it. The less you plan it out the better. Truly.
We used to often hear that actors with curly/textured hair had to have their hair straightened and then styled for the sake of consistency across shots. Has that changed over the years?
It has and hasn’t. Sometimes producers and directors want an actors hair straight for a specific reason. I will often try to convince them to go with natural texture but if they are set on straight I will encourage us using a wig for ease on the actor and also continuity. It often makes processing faster in the mornings as well and means actors aren’t sitting in the chair for hours in the morning or having to sit for constant touch ups.
What was the trick to keeping hair looking great on screen in windy cottage country?
By working with everyone’s natural texture we had to worry a lot less about the elements and things like wind blown boat hair looks real! Imagine if it was perfect and didn’t move when they are racing across lakes and getting rained on in canoes? That would immediately pull me out of the show.
